Berkley gets primary challenger in Nevada

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) will face a self-funding primary challenger after all in her Nevada Senate race: Renewable-energy entrepreneur Barry Ellsworth has filed to run.

Berkley had faced a potentially damaging primary against wealthy businessman Byron Georgiou, but Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had pressured him hard to exit the race and leave Berkley with a clean shot at taking on Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.).

Ellsworth, who has donated to many Democrats, including Berkley, in the past, told the Las Vegas Sun that Reid's involvement "really angered" him. He said he personally likes Berkley but that Washington had created the housing crisis and hadn't done enough to regulate Wall Street.

He vowed to spend "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in the primary, but said that total will have limits. "I’m not going to spend my kids' money to prove a point," he said.

The primary challenge will be a headache for Berkley and national Democrats: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has thrown its support behind her.